Water and Boilers Fred Dibnah's Made in Britain

WHISTLE BLOWS

Four weeks into their grand tour of Britain's industrial past,

Fred and his steersman Alf Molyneux are making good progress.

They've been running a full head of steam from the Scottish Borders to the northeast of England.

I'm on my way to Sunderland to look at a great pumping station

that was built to cater for the ever-increasing demand for more water.

With the invention of steam engines, far more water was needed than ever

to run the engines and equip Britain's new industries.

This is Ryhope pumping station,

built by the Sunderland and South Shields Water Company in 1868.

The station ceased operating in 1967 after a century of pumping water.

Hello, Fred! You found us! Well done! How are you?

It contains two of the finest beam engines in all of Great Britain,

which are maintained in running order by dedicated volunteers.

These great rocking beams are like a huge version of a simple garden pump.

The beams transmit steam power via long connecting rods

to pumps located at the bottom of a 250-foot deep shaft.

Three Lancashire boilers make steam to drive the engines.

-What do you think of these?

-Ooh, ah.

Bloody hell. Heckish long connecting rods, aren't they?

-They are.

-Compared with a lot of water-pumping engines.

Imagine the manpower and the time that went into making these,

even digging the shaft... 250ft!

1860s, all done by hand.

Yeah. That's a fair old crank shaft, innit?

Let's look at this maker's plate? There we are.

-Hawthorn's. 1868.

-Brass plate's a work of art.

-Lovely.

-They made boat engines and all, didn't they?

They did, they made trains, boat engines, ships as well.

Would you like to try starting one?

Well, aye, there's all those levers. I'll have a go.

I know it's like a bit of a knack, innit?

'Tis, here. You have to step up.

We've got a step seeing as you're short. You'll need the top step too.

We'll put quite a few turns on the steam valve so if you open that I'll say when to stop.

That's about fine. Now we're gonna to lift these two fully and just...

-Both at equal...

-Both at the same time, I'm afraid.

Bloody hell!

-Now what happens?

-Now put them down, drop them down.

Go on to these two, lift those two.

-These two?

-Yep, quick as you can.

All right.

And put them down. Shut the steam right off.

How many ton did that beam weigh?

22 ton.

Took a team of 44 horses to pull each beam all the way from the banks of the River Tyne where they were built.

Imagine that. At the Sunderland Bridge the toll keeper looked

and he went "There's no way you're bringing that over my bridge."

But they got here somehow, so must have crossed in the night.

We'll put just a bit more steam on, Fred.

OK, that's fine.

You can control the strokes and even the direction of the beam using these valves.

Right, we'll close that off, then.

Beautiful.

The water supply has been restored!

Large pumping stations like Ryhope were built to provide clean drinking water

after cholera outbreaks in the first half of the 19th century

were found to be caused by contaminated drinking water.

The two 100-horsepower beam engines

straddle three storeys of the engine house.

Clean water was pumped from aquifers

running through limestone rocks 250 feet underground.

..A bearing a long way away, you'd use a laser beam.

-These guys had a piece of string and their eyes.

-We're a bit like that!

-Bows and arrows.

-That's right.

They only generate about 100 horsepower.

They would pump 81.5 gallons every stroke.

Ten strokes a minutes, all day.

-What did you pump in a 24-hour period?

-24 hours.

-About a million gallons.

-A million gallons?

Aye, that lovely smell of steam, eh?

Beam engines. Where the engines got their names from...big beams.

How did they actually get these beams into position?

Because they couldn't get them in through the door.

They came up with the walls and they jacked 'em up with great bulks of wood, didn't they, Keith?

They built to this floor level.

-Winched the beams in, then built this huge roof.

-Over the top.

The roof ties the building together.

The size of the timbers, and the trusses in the roof.

I wonder if they ever dropped one, if things went wrong!

Yeah, they must have. See the eyelets?

The idea was that roof would take the weight of that beam.

It was never tried and I don't think I'd like to try.

You get a lovely view of the cylinder tops.

Watch your head, so you don't get a clatter.

You can see the different size and diameter of the cylinders.

Wonderful intricate pieces of metalwork, holding all this together.

The governor controls the engine's speed

and the flywheel ensures its smooth action.

At the heart of any steam engine is the boiler.

The three Lancashire boilers they've got here date back to 1908.

My granddad did this for a lot of years.

Then, boilermaking was a major industry.

Now, there are few boilermakers left, but Fred has tracked one down.

I'm on my way to a boilermaker's in Bradford.

First, I'm stopping off to have a look at a famous Teesside landmark -

the Middlesbrough Transporter Bridge.

-I tell you what, stood up here, you don't need to stop for a smoke!

-No.

This bridge was opened in 1911 to carry pedestrians and materials

across the River Tees.

It was hailed as one of the great engineering feats of the time.

It carries 250 foot passengers and 300 vehicles every day.

I wonder if they'll let me go across with my traction engine.

Fred opened the visitor centre here four years ago,

so with a bit of luck, the bridge master will let the engine across.

And there it is, Alf.

That's Middlesbrough's pride and joy.

The biggest transporter bridge in the world.

It were built by William Arrol in Glasgow

who built the Forth railway bridge.

Supposedly be made in Scotland, transported here in big lumps, and then riveted together?

The steps at that end... There used to be some down this side.

You could walk across for nothing in the morning on your way to work.

I heard one time a bloke on the other side had cycled to the bridge,

carried the bike up and across, and that way he didn't have to pay.

I once went up there and it's bad enough on your own, never mind carrying a bike!

But there's another good story. On the great day with the booze-up

when they opened it, the Lord Mayor fell in the river.

You could see his hat bobbing down.

This tall hat, you know. Anyway, let's have a closer look at it.

I'm looking forward to it.

-Yeah?

-Are you ready? Brake off.

I've actually seen a list of tariffs from about 1911.

It says a traction engine is the equivalent of ten shillings.

I'll have a word with the bridge master and see if it still stands.

Men of Middlesbrough are famous for building bridges.

They've built a few up and down the world, haven't they?

Didn't they do Sydney Harbour bridge from here?

There's one or two rivets in this bridge, isn't there?!

The bridge has a travelling car deck, or gondola,

which traverses the River Tees.

The gondola is suspended by 30 steel cables from a trolley

-that runs on rails 160 feet up in the air.

-Over the water!

An electric winder located on the south bank

pulls the trolley back and forth.

-It's steady, isn't it? No wobbling.

-No, no.

The bridge's unusual design lets sailing ships with tall masts freely navigate the channel.

They didn't need to paint it up for us, did they?

Nice and smooth.

-It's going at a fair rate of knots now too, isn't it?

-Mmm.

I hope it stops when we get to the other side!

-Don't drive off till the gap's closed.

-No...!

How much is it?

Brake off?

-Brake on?

-Yep.

-Hi.

-Thank you for letting us cross your bridge.

No problem, no problem at all.

Want to come and see the workings?

Eh? Yeah.

Right,

this is the winder, is it?

This is it. All original.

1911, hasn't changed. 500 vaults, DC, 30 horsepower motors.

Aye how long does it take it to get across?

It takes on average two minutes.

-Hang on!

-You can time it if you like.

But uh, when I'm not here

you never know what they're up to, they drive a lot faster.

30 seconds so far.

It's going round at a fair whack.

-Gone halfway across now.

-A minute, minute.

-Can you hear them brakes kick in?

-Mmm.

It was two minutes up to there,

so it's just under two minutes.

Mind you, we're not done yet!

He's driving as per instruction.

Mmm.

The next port of call is Israel Newton's boilerworks, in Idle, near Bradford.

It's 80 miles to Bradford...

and the weather's fine.

The backbone of my engine, of course, is the boiler,

which is needed to raise the steam to make the thing go.

A steam boiler is virtually a bomb.

If one of these things blew up...

In fact, one did in America a few months ago and killed five people and injured 40, I believe.

You know, you can be lighting a fire in something that's very dangerous

and end up, like the man in America, killing five people...

himself and his own son.

Fred's getting concerned.

It's still ten miles to Bradford.

Not only is there no coal in the bunker, but the water level is dangerously low.

I think we can reach.

-We're all right, there.

-We'll reach that.

They don't check these very often I don't think.

It seems a bit tight.

Plenty of pipe. We're all right.

You can't believe this, can you?

You should always... What's doing?

The door'll not open now. It's not our day.

It's because the weight is hanging, it's hanging, the van's leaning.

Why do we want to worry about that?

-I want to get the screwdriver to open the grid.

-Oh.

There used to be a bar in the back.

I've got a bar, but it's... it's not been off for a while, that.

Just pull down on the door.

Definitely at the top.

-Is this another of your burglar-proof ideas?

-No, no.

It moves about, made of wood, innit?

That, gentlemen...

is not a fire hydrant.

It's a stop valve.

-It isn't a fire hydrant.

-Eh?

-Not a fire hydrant.

-Not a fire hydrant?!

It's a stop valve. You'd better abort this bit of this bloody film.

It's not our day, is it?

Not our day.

It isn't, it's uh...

Do you want to look and try it?

Yeah, but it isn't.

It's for turning people's water off.

Oh, best leave it, then.

It's never been opened for bloody years, that.

-Don't know if there's any fire hydrants?

-Do you know if there's any fire hydrants?

Fire hydrants, as a rule, have a bloody great big letter H... painted yellow.

-There's one here, Fred.

-Eh?

There's one here, 20 yards further up.

-Has it got a letter H?

-Yes.

-You can go down a bit.

-All right.

-We don't what any knots in the pipe.

-We won't get any knots.

-Eh?

-We won't get any knots.

Right, it's all yours.

-Though you'll usually find water eventually...

-Success!

..coal can be a little more difficult to get hold of.

If you're going on a big journey...

I've had friends who,

before they set off, they know roughly how far they can get,

so they arranged with the coal merchant to leave some at the pub

or summat like that, you know.

But wherever they go,

-somebody always seems willing to help them out.

-Hello. How do you do?

-How are you doing?

-We're in trouble, we need some coal.

Fortunately, in Yorkshire, Fred's fans have all the right connections.

-I might just know a coal yard with a bit of coal if you're stuck.

-Great.

-I could bring some up.

-Yeah, we could...

-A Willis Jeep,

-Yeah, 1942. Not quite as old as your machine, though.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, we... Is he in today, the guy, you know?

They might be out haymaking today but I can probably get...

-Farmer-cum-coal merchant.

-Exactly. Any particular type?

The bigger the lumps the better.

-Right, I'll go get some.

-All right, thanks very much.

-Bye.

Yeah, see you later.

The water tanks hold 60 gallons.

They're going to be another 20 minutes.

The tired and the weary.

-It's all going in now.

-That's all right.

-Precious!

-We've had this...er... helpfulness everywhere we've been.

Everybody's enjoyed seeing us, talking to us, helping us.

See what I mean?!

Thank you, dear, thank you very much.

-Is that all right for you?

-That's smashing, yeah.

-Shall I take it out.

-No, are you frightened of er...?

Frightened that you might bite me!

Thank you.

Tell him it's Guinness, he'll drink it all(!)

Thank you, dear, you're very kind.

Superior service!

How did you manage that so quick?

-Eh?

-Welsh steam coal, I believe.

-Is it? Oh, brilliant!

-Shall we put it in the back?

-Well, hang on. I'm not supposed to lift owt.

-Well, I can.

-Aye, right. Well, just tip it in t'coal box.

-Right.

-I've got bloody bladder cancer.

-Oh, dear.

Is that something that's...?

-They can't mend it, no.

-They can't?

-No.

-Oh, dear.

-There you are, you're full up.

-Yeah.

-Well, thanks very much.

-You're welcome.

-Nobody's paid him yet!

-Nice to meet you.

-Yeah, thanks.

With the coal and water replenished,

Fred's getting irritated by a leak that's appeared in his boiler.

These holes are only as big as flies' legs.

They're not great big gaping holes. That one's a bit of a nuisance.

You know, it's... When it's not under pressure, there's nowt there.

It's dry. I mean, me steam roller...

it leaked for two years and it was a major job to stop it, you know.

I thought it that'd seal up, but it never did.

The boiler inspector mustn't think it's gonna blow up so we'll be OK.

These leaks aren't a problem. It's just that Fred's a perfectionist.

In the old days, new boilers were put out in the rain to go rusty

for 12 months, which sealed them up.

But Fred didn't have 12 months.

Fred completely rebuilt his engine from a depressing pile of rusty old bits.

The boiler was the most challenging part.

As a steeplejack, he couldn't afford a professional boilermaker.

He rebuilt the whole thing himself.

The boiler uses much more water to climb steep hills.

Great strain is placed on the engine

as 12 tons of iron slowly hauls itself uphill.

But the effort's worth it.

Fred is going to visit one of Britain's last boilermakers.

Boilermaking were one of Britain's most important industries.

They even had a boilermakers' union.

To me, it's a great privilege to go and watch how they did it

in t'olden days, being a bit of an amateur boilermaker myself.

Nobody told us you lived on the top of a mountain!

At Israel Newton's Boiler Works in Bradford, boilers are still made

in the traditional way, using rivets instead of welding.

It's run by Mr Gordon Newton, who's the sixth generation of family

in a business that was founded in 1803. We'll leave it here a minute.

Fred's proud of his boilermaking and he wants to show off the best bits.

Aye, the er... We got the rivets from Barnsley, a very nice man

and er...for the foundation ring

and up the er...up the new throat plate and round the barrel.

But when we hydraulic-ed it, everything were all right, but...

-That bloody great tank of water! There's nine rivets on each side, you know.

-Oh, right.

When you go over a bump, you know.

And of course it's bloody leaking, you know.

But I'm not bloody squealing about the leaks.

-I think eventually they'd stop.

-They'll make up.

-Yeah, yeah.

Did you replace the box only?

Oh, it's got a new box and new barrel.

The only original plates of the boiler are this plate,

-top wrapper, and the back end.

-Yeah..

We've had no bother with any leaks from the, you know, from the gasket.

Well, I'm telling a lie. This is just fizzing a bit.

There's bit of stain coming on it.

We came home from somewhere, and half a strip out.

It were a bloody disaster, so we got back and we had a week off!

In the week off, I decided, like... I got up one morning at six o'clock.

I got all that off, all that, had the pipes off and everything by the time Alf come.

I got that off and got going tap tap tap and all that, you see.

They'd nearly all gone but I weren't happy and then another guy come,

who's like a larger-than-life man and he says, "I've got the stuff."

He says, "It'll block a bloody bullet hole up in an engine block."

Them were his words. Oh, he's gone to sleep.

Anyway, we... And it were £9. £9.99 a bottle.

-I thought owt's worth a try. I didn't want to put any more chemic in it.

-No, no.

God's natural ways, I think, are better, bloody rust.

-That's right.

-Anyway, I slung 'em in, corked it up and all the leaks went.

But after a bit they've bloody come back again. Not as bad, but back.

Anyway, it's not bloody peeing out. There's not a puddle of water.

You see some, don't you, at steam rallies and they're like a sieve!

Well, I saw one where the tube...

Ready for five minutes.

Fred says this is what engine men do.

They fall off when it looks comfortable and relax...

I'm just short of a pillow!

Here, at Israel Newton's Boiler Works, they manufacture and repair

all kinds of locomotive and steam engine boilers.

They use traditional plate-bending, flanging and hot riveting techniques.

Local boiler rebuild could cost anything from £20,000 to £200,000!

-You've got plenty of rivets!

-Yeah!

There's about nine ton, all various sizes, my father bought years ago.

Boilers contain steam at a very high pressure, which is very dangerous.

The boilermaker has to ensure

the riveting and the plate work is done to a very high standard,

or this could lead to an explosion

that would create mayhem and havoc over a great area.

My father always used to say, "Never give a man a job unless you can do it yourself."

-Agreed.

-That's how, in my opinion, businesses should be run, but that's not so any more..

The modern world of accountants.

Exactly, exactly, yeah.

Take quarter of an inch...

Traction engines are an expensive business.

When a quote for a boiler repair comes in at upwards of of £1,500,

Fred was never afraid to have a go himself.

That was for a special throat plate for a new boiler we've got going.

People don't realise, do they, how much preparation you have to do?

No, the tooling and what have you.

-When you tell them how much it is, they're like...

-Exactly, £1,500.

I know somebody in Lancashire that went somewhere else!

-You've got the remains of a smoke box.

-That's right, yeah.

Come on.

The centrepiece of Gordon's workshop is a 1930s press,

which makes the curved plates common in boilers of this type.

Gordon, what pressure does this press do?

It's only about 50 ton, which is quite amazing,

but that's all you need.

This is my pride and joy just now.

The Great Western Society approached us about two and a half years ago

with some very old drawings going back to 1904

to make a brand new vertical steam rail motor boiler.

-Mmm.

-It's quite something I think, even if I say it myself.

There's 415, er...tubes in there. There's quite some heating surface.

-What pressure?

-160 psi.

-That's a lot of weight!

People don't realise that for every square inch...

-there's 160 pounds trying to blow it apart.

-That's right.

Yeah, looks to me like a long-term project!

With something like this... There isn't another one like it to copy...

You've got to take your time.

You don't want to make any mistakes.

No, it's got to be done right first time.

Have we got a good future here, Gordon, in this works?

We've enough work that's ongoing 12 months. The work we're doing

is a mixture of locomotive work and traction engine work.

There is a definite future and with there being a lack of skills,

er...you'll always get the work.

How are you going on about getting people to learn the skills?

Very difficult. You just can't get anybody to...

They don't want to wear boiler suits for a start, it's not street cred.

Sorry about that.

But, um...but that is a problem.

They don't want to dirty their hands.

A trust is now being formed.

Our business will transfer to this other trust and then from then on,

we can get young people in, and try and make boilermakers of them.

People still want traditional type of work.

The trust will be the boiler skills and training trust and then a subsidiary of the operating company

will be Israel Newton 21st Century Ltd. And that's how it'll go.

Bye!

And as boilermaking heads into the 21st century,

Fred and Alf are heading south to visit Sheffield...

the city that made the steel for an engine like this.

They'll visit a forge where they used to make things

like the axles and crankshaft for an engine like Fred's.

And they'll go to a working museum

that tells the early history of steelmaking in Sheffield.

Subtitles by BBC Broadcast 2005

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